CUNY BA Community Newsletter #3

We are delighted to send you this update on some of the latest news surrounding the CUNY BA program. Last semester we had the pleasure of hearing from various members of the CUNY BA community about programs, initiatives, accomplishments, and resources that they felt made the semester great. We hope to be able to include your updates in future editions of our newsletter! We are also interested in creating a newsletter team. If you are a current CUNY BA student who is interested in volunteering for the newsletter team, please contact the CUNY BA Fellows at fellows@cunyba.cuny.edu.

Welcome to the first CUNY BA Newsletter of 2020, an auspicious year of clarity!

We are enthusiastic about this Spring semester because CUNY BA will be presenting two important public events:  In March a discussion of the PBS documentary, College Behind Bars, and in May CUNY BA’s first Student Showcase, highlighting student pursuits in academic research and artistic successes. Dates and times are in this newsletter and more information about each of these events will be forthcoming as the semester progresses.

I also look forward to collaborating with all of you during this new decade, meeting challenges, overcoming barriers, and leaping ahead with exciting initiatives in supporting our remarkable students.

The CUNY BA program piloted its first ever peer mentor program this past semester. The program was designed with the goals of building community within CUNY BA, providing new students with academic insights from experienced mentors, and facilitating the professional development of CUNY BA students through mentorship experience. The program currently includes six pairs of mentors and mentees who are meeting with each other throughout the academic year.

The program will also be featured in a spotlight session in this year’s Futures Initiative’s conference, involving a discussion by Manny Gonzalez (CUNY BA fellow and peer mentor program coordinator), Kate McPherson (CUNY BA senior academic advisor), Lucien Baskin (CUNY BA student and program mentor), and Kia Thomas (CUNY BA student and program mentee) about the impact of the peer mentor program on CUNY BA. If you’re interested in getting involved in the peer mentor program,  keep an eye out for our call for Fall 2020 mentors later this semester!

CUNY Baccalaureate Spring Orientation

January 23, 2020, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Elebash Recital Hall
Come meet your fellow incoming students, administrators, and advisors, and receive key information and resources about course registration, home campuses, faculty mentors, life experience credits, and more!
MALS Spring Information Sessions

Multiple Dates in January and February
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Suite 7209
CUNY BA and the M.A. Program in Liberal Studies (MALS) at The Graduate Center, CUNY, have agreed to a pipeline program. Students in good standing with at least one semester of coursework in CUNY BA and at least 60 credits completed (Junior level) may be permitted to earn up to 12 (twelve) credits within MALS during their undergraduate degree program in CUNY BA.  These credits will be applicable to the CUNY BA degree and may be accepted towards a Master’s degree, for those CUNY BA graduates desiring to continue into the MALS program.

For more information about MALS and how to apply, please register for one of the upcoming information sessions here.
CUNY BA Study Abroad Workshop

February 7, 2020
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Room 8301
CUNY BA will host a workshop about studying (as well as researching, volunteering, and interning) abroad specifically for CUNY Baccalaureate students. This workshop will address the variety of study abroad programs available in CUNY, how to research programs, and how to plan for study abroad. The Gilman Scholarship, CUNY Chancellor's Global Scholarship, some campus specific scholarships, financial aid, and other national scholarships will be discussed, as well as the CUNY International Travel Guidelines. Any CUNY BA students curious about studying abroad are encouraged to attend. Please register for this workshop by following the link here.

CUNY BA Finding a Faculty Mentor Workshop

February 13, 2020
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Suite 8402
Please join the CUNY BA Fellows and Advising Team for a workshop on how to find a faculty mentor! At this workshop, CUNY BA Fellows and a CUNY BA Academic Advisor will lead the discussion regarding: how to research faculty, how to reach out to possible mentors (and how to prepare for an initial meeting), how to maintain your mentor/mentee relationship, and how to present yourself, among other topics. Please register for this workshop by following the link here.

"College Behind Bars" Documentary

March 18, 2020, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Elebash Auditorium

CUNY BA will host the Bard Prisoner Initiative’s PBS documentary “College Behind Bars” with excerpts and a panel discussion including BPI/CUNY BA representatives and BPI/CUNY BA alumni. Additional information will be posted on the CUNY BA website.

Professors Shonna Trinch (left) and Barbara Cassidy (right)

This public anthropology project uses theater to educate and inform others about the reality of rape. After last year's performance, “Seeing Rape 2019: This is America”, almost 90% (N=242 out of 276) of the theater-going respondents indicated that they would definitely recommend the plays to a friend. This year, “Seeing Rape 2020” will be held at John Jay College's Gerald Lynch Theater during the following times:

April 1 at 7 pm; April 2 at 1:40 pm; April 3 at 7 pm

Admission is free to students everywhere with valid ID who register, and non students tickets are $20. Please visit the Seeing Rape website to register and/or purchase tickets.

Some student-playwrights and professional actors from left to right, Alice Gorelick, Tay Bass, Nicole Centazzo (playwright), Megan Wallace (playwright), Juan Arturo, Johanna Tejada (playwright), Isaah Flaherty (playwright), Arielle Gonzalez, Ure Egbuho, Rose Mary Osorio (playwright), Victoria Metayer (playwright)

Photo Credits: Courtney Collins

- Making Work Visible Contest:

Funding Opportunities for Students

- The Women's Forum Education Fund is accepting application for awards that will be distributed to women aged 35 and over who have faced and overcome adversity and now, after an interruption in their education, have resumed the pursuit of their first Associate or Bachelor degree. The application deadline is February 1, 2020. To learn more, please visit
https://womensforumny.org/education-fund/#eligibility-and-application

- CUNY BA will begin accepting applications for the below listed scholarships on Friday January 24th, 2020. The application deadline is Friday March 6th, 2020. To learn more, visit https://cunyba.cuny.edu/scholarships-cunyba/

• The Thomas W. Smith Academic Fellowship
• The Memorial Scholarship for Students in Social Work, Human Services, Health or Education
• The Anne Duncan Somsen Memorial Fund (this scholarship is for new students only)
• The Barbara Sproul Scholarship
• The Dora and Seymour Rosen Memorial Scholarship

- CUNY BA student Denise Pennizotto (Artistic Dimensions of Religion, Hunter College, 2020) is having her work featured at the Denise Bibro Fine Art Gallery as part of the Exhibition “Art from the Five Boros VII”. Her piece is titled Sergeant and me with Mrs. Carl Meyers and Her Children and will be on display from January 9th until February 8th.

- Brooklyn College Theater Professor Welker White (CUNY BA '05, Theatre) can be seen alongside Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Martin Scorsese's newest, critically-acclaimed film "The Irishman", mostly recently nominated for 10 Academy Awards. In the epic story about hitman Frank Sheeran, the Buffalino crime family, and notorious union kingpin Jimmy Hoffa, Professor White plays Hoffa’s wife opposite Pacino. She has been teaching acting in Brooklyn College’s Department of Theater since 2009, and credits her CUNY BA experience with helping to set her on a path that involves both academia and professional performance. CUNY BA wishes Prof. White and the entire cast success at the Oscars!

(Still from film, with Professor White at far right)

(Professor White, right, with director Martin Scorsese)
- David Aharoni (CUNY BA ‘17, Artificial Intelligence) started a short-term housing company after many years in the real estate business to help promote prime furnished apartments as an affordable alternative for students. More information can be found on his website.

- Je'Jae Cleopatra Daniels (CUNY BA ‘17, Media & Gender Studies, cum laude) is an NYC-based artist who has been applying their stories into featured work throughout New York City since graduation. In Spring 2020, they will serve as an Artist in Residency at Judson Memorial Church, where they will premier their play "L'Chaim 2 Dykes" (which was part of their CUNY BA undergraduate thesis).

As part of our continuing efforts to better serve our students, we have been working to compile a database of faculty interested in serving as CUNY BA faculty mentors. If you would like to be included in this database, please let us know by emailing fellows@cunyba.cuny.edu with your first and last name, preferred email address, area of expertise, home campus, and number of mentees you are currently mentoring and would like to mentor. If you prefer, you can also submit this information using the form here. Additionally, if you happen to know of other full-time faculty members who might be interested in serving as a faculty mentor to a CUNY BA student, we would greatly appreciate it if you could forward this information to them.

Please also let us know if you would be interested in possibly speaking to students at a workshop about your experience as a faculty mentor. On behalf of the CUNY BA program and our students, thank you for your work and for being a part of the CUNY BA community!

Do you have news that you would like to share with the CUNY BA community about yourself, your faculty mentor, or someone else in CUNY BA? Please fill out our submission form and contact fellows@cunyba.cuny.edu with any questions.